Agriculture

Nutrient Management

The Nutrient Management Specialist works with landowners and private consultants to help them balance the application of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to meet crop needs. These nutrients are commonly found in animal manure and commercial fertilizers. The Conservation District administers Act 38, Pennsylvania’s Nutrient Management Law. The goal of this program is to increase crop productivity while decreasing potential threats to water quality from overapplying nutrients.

All farms are required to have a manure management plan. However, some farms are considered concentrated animal operations (CAO) and are required to have an Act 38 level Nutrient Management Plan (NMP). You can determine if your farm’s a CAO with the instructions provided in the “Is Your Farm a CAO?” brochure. Even if your farming operation is not considered a CAO, there are cases when an Act 38 NMP may be required. For example, a plan may be written in order to obtain a township permit to build a manure storage or may be required to complete an Agricultural Land Preservation Program application.

In the case of a manure spill please call 1-866-825-0208 (24 hours).

The PA Fish and Boat Commission introduced a new toll-free hotline for the public to report suspected pollution incidents or fish kills. 1-855-347-4545 provides a way to quickly alert PFBC staff to suspected environmental incidents.

Biosolids

Application of recycled nutrients (Biosolids) from Wastewater Treatment Plants is a permitted activity authorized and regulated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). For further information, contact Tom Sweeney at 717-705-4786 or Water Management at 717-705-4707 of DEP.